Thanks for clarifying. Then FF and Turnigy 40A are produced by the same manufacturer...the hardware is identical, programming is the same, even the startup and initialization tones are the same. Again, not busting just hoping my dollar was well spent. I purposely stayed away from low-end ESCs all this time, I've always made it a point to fly high-end gear. Thanks
Howard, The 2 esc are not produced by the same manufacturer. As for the quality of the ESC mine are flying RED EPIC and Cine Glass regularly without the slightest hiccup. I had TONS of problems with the hercules esc.
Hey Tabby Tabb, I realize you have a business to run and such, but take a minute of your busy time to read this stuff. These "not made by same manufacturer" ESCs are most definitely HobbyWing hardware. I've initially (mistakenly) thought this was ZTW (and thus atmel-based + simonk), but as more clues started rolling in with pictures, I'm going to have to go with this being rebadged and re-shrinked (or maybe even just ordered in black) HobbyWing stuff. First of all, if you're going to tell me you're making these from scratch, I'm going to laugh real hard. You're not. I don't need any proof here, but the assembly, how leads are pre-soldered, the board spacers and large amounts of RoHS solder blobs, you don't just go out and pay a random board house to do this. This is done by ESC-specializing factory. Your typical fab (even in USA) wouldn't know what to do with this. Then there's the striking similarities with HobbyWing hardware and software. Again, initially I thought its ZTW, but then the 4x Silabs flash pads, then I remembered that Turdigy/HobbyWing stuff was double-stacked PCBs to save space, and bingo, TP40A are looking basically identical. Again, please prove me otherwise. HW marks all thier wares with HWx.yy and software Vx.yy, and you can clearly see that on the boards if you unshrink them. Your shoppe mentions something about "programming card", I mean, let's just take a Turdigy programming card and hook it up, are you saying we're not gonna see it work? It will work, infact, I don't think you're even doing any of the settings on these to make them "multirotor-specific" because on the startup sound it counts out number of LiPo cells, which means you didn't set battery to NiMH and cutoff to low, as is generally recommended for non-multirotor escs. Soo, what's going on here? Flies good enough with DJI, so you figure it's OK to sell to unsuspecting public right? Herc III has problems? I'm sure it does, but unlike this shovelware, it's actually designed and manufactured by RC people, and not just marked up Chinese crap! Ohhh ya~! P.S. Higher amp draw due to I2C? I realize most people on this forum probably have no clue about R/C or electronics in general and just want their camera flying to take pics, but I hope *you* have some clue about these 2 things, so let's slow down on feeding the BS to folks, eh?
Hi Timmy C (TC) I have not fed BS to anyone, nor did I ever say that there was a higher amp draw due to I2C. PS can you please change to your real name? Thanks Tabb
My question is... if these are repackaged or made with cheap repackaged parts, where does it end? Lipos ? Movi ? Motors? Of coarse some of it is repackaged but I hope its not cheap crap marked up 500%
Howard actually I haven't bothered. I thought about it and frankly decided that I don't give a hoot who makes them. As long as they work as advertised does it really matter? I guess what gets me is the tone this subject has taken. I am a bit jaundiced since I am a moderator but I have nothing but respect for Tabb and Freefly. The quality is outstanding. The customer service is second to none. Backed up by a solid dealer network like Quadrocopter. If something isn't right, like some of the Radians, I didn't hear of anyone that didn't get a replacement, no questions asked. Does anyone else offer a robust forum like this one in support of their products? If you want the quality and support you pay more. As to the price/value equation that is a decision for each of us. Here's an example. Assume that the ESC's are about $40. That might be high or low but stick with me. So $320 for the CS8. There is no PDB on the market today that has the capacity and built in filtered 12V power to a 4 port dongle. Closest might be the PowerHungry at $275. So we are at $595 vs $700 and I still need to trim the wire and solder on a 24 bullets. I would rather have it done and plug, play and fly. So just my personal opinion. I don't care where Freefly buys their components. I do know that the quality I have seen is flawless and the commitment of the Freefly team to offering great products with value and quality shouldn't be questioned by anyone, especially on this forum.
One thing I will mention is that, unlike the MoVI and other products from FF, the ESC package does NOT say they were built in-house. The only thing that is mentioned that was "designed" was the power distro board. Just my $.02 Josh
The thing i worry about is the connectors. Most power failures i've been hearing about have been at the EC5 or dean. I think in this case if there was a failure at the connector which i believe to be the weak point then it would be hugely beneficial.
One thing I've seen with the EC5's is that when you solder on the connections (assuming you do it yourself), the basic steps are: 1. Tin the end of the battery wires (one at at time to avoid shorting the Lipo). 2. Heat the connector with the soldering iron. 3. Melt solder into the cup of the connector. 4. Plunge the tinned battery wire into the solder in the cup. Now at this point it's tempting to allow the connector to cool down -- but I've seen some dry joints happen if you do. So it seems that the best thing is: 5. After plunging the tinned battery wire into the solder in the cup, keep heating the connector with the iron until you see the solder in the cup melt again! The act of plunging the battery wire into the solder cup shock-cools the solder below its melting point and you do not get a good bond. Anyone else seen this problem and adopted this strategy? Andy.
Yep, i do the same thing. I've also noticed that it helps if you just slowly put the wire in. I think the big thing this helps is it allows extra time for the flux to pull the impurities to the surface. Never had one fail either way though personally...Never had a problem with deans connectors either to be honest.
But that's because you da man, Casey! I've had one (early solder job) fail on me and know of one other that's failed. I also think I saw a report of a EC5 melt-down that suggested a high-resistance cold joint... Andy.
I just powered up my board and freely esc combo for the first time this evening and noticed that when i arm my wkm it doesnt spin the motors up like it used to with my castle ice 50's. Why is this? Edit: Silly me, I forgot that Im using a new WKM and didn't raise my motor idle speed in the wkm to the higher setting than standard.
Very interesting thread. I think this is definetely a good first step for a heavy lifter. I"m ready to pull the trigger on this set. I could care less who makes it or for that matter that its $700. Look what we have to pay for the MK PDB which continuosly fails. Can anyone tell me if motor temps are a function of the current draw or from the efficiency of how the motor control handles the power? I'm averaging 70 amps on a flight, maybe a little more at hover but I can see 100 plus temps easy. I try to not hover but sometimes its necessary when I'm taking pictures for realtors. If the motor temps won't decrease, can the new electronics take the higher motor temps? Is there a temp limit for these motors? My assumption from what I'm reading is that the new freefly control system shouldn't change motor temps much but should increase reliability compared to the MK and the idea is to make the motor run more efficiently with 15" props and larger booms to lower the temps?